IT'S D-day for Gareth Jenkins tomorrow when he is interviewed by the "big five' panel set up by the WRU to find the next coach of Wales.

Jenkins will makes his presentation to union chairman David Pickering, chief executive Steve Lewis, high-performance manager Mostyn Richards, rugby legend Gerald Davies and Alan Jones, both board members, with the goal of convincing them he should advance to the final short-list of two.

There will be a public outcry and increased pressure on WRU bigwigs, not least from its full board of directors with an extraordinary general meeting looming next month, if Jenkins (pictured below) is not in the frame for the most high-profile job in Welsh sport.

Should he be snubbed by the big five, there is every chance the discontent among rank-and-file clubs over the role of Pickering and Lewis in the shock departure of Mike Ruddock as Wales coach 10 months after being the architect of a Six Nations Championship Grand Slam will grow.

The militant clubs are also up in arms over ticketing for Wales' home matches, the lack of a group chief executive and Millennium Stadium chief executive Paul Sergeant being allowed to sit on the board of that WRU subsidiary.

They claim the union is breaking its own constitution on those important matters. They are also questioning whether Lewis and Pickering exceeded their powers when Ruddock announced, to the Western Mail, that he wanted to stand down at the end of the season by taking action to relieve him of his duties before a full board meeting had been held to discuss it.

Jenkins is up against four other candidates - all Welsh - to spearhead Wales' bid for glory at next year's World Cup in France.

Interviews will be completed over the next few days and the new man could be appointed as early as Thursday with a meeting of the WRU's full board of 17 due to take place then. The board have demanded a short-list of two and will make the final decision themselves.

Lewis has confirmed interviews have already taken place with sources claiming Davies, whose Leeds side have just been relegated from the Guinness Premiership, was grilled by the WRU before the April 7 closing date for applications.

"Obviously the most important thing is to make sure we get the right person," Lewis said last week.

Jenkins and Davies are hot favourites to go forward to the full board. But it's Jenkins who boasts the superior track record, by a considerable distance.

He was overwhelming winner of a Western Mail poll to find the public's choice of successor to Ruddock and is desperate to land the job he craves.